Page 34 of Guardian's Dilemma

He snorted. I could feel him drawing power to himself, and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have enough power to shield from it, so getting him to throw the spell now rather than wait for it to get more powerful wasn’t exactly going to help. I tried to turn my head enough that I’d be able to see Glimmer in my peripheral vision without drawing attention to him. I had no idea whether Leonard could see him or not.

Maybe he could and just didn’t care, because Glimmer sure didn’t look like a threat right then. He was on the floor, curled around something in his hand as though he were protecting it. Leonard took a step towards us and his feet crunched over the gravelly plaster and shards of rock that had settled on the floor.

How long did we have before the rest of the vault caved in?

“You’ve always been so bloody weak, Kingsley. You would never have made a trueridire.”

“Iama trueridire,” I insisted. I don’t know why I bothered, since I knew he didn’t believe me, but it stung to have him dismiss me like that.

“Always the tracker and never the hunter, King-y-boy. You were never more than a tracking-dog.”

I was pulling more power to me but I couldn’t hope to shield myself or Glimmer from the thrumming power Leonard had. It took everything in me not to react when I saw, in the corner of my eye, Glimmer move.

I didn’t examine the rush of relief that he wasn’t dead.

I also decided that, probably, Leonard couldn’t see him, since he didn’t react at all to the dragon slowly clambering onto his hands and knees and, yes, he looked weak, but he was a dragon and they were never out until they were dead.

Leonard was saying, “I’ve put up with you for far too long, listening to Douglas defend you. I’m going to end it right here.”

Glimmer crawled towards me, one hand holding tightly onto that stupid necklace. He was within reach of me when Leonard raised his hand and then Glimmer pressed his hand against mine. I felt the slick glide of blood and then a surge of power.

More power than I’d ever felt.

It was as though it was drawn up through my body against my will and, when Leonard released his spell, my shield held.

Glimmer was kneeling beside me and I stood, holding my hand out and deflecting Leonard’s attack. His eyes widened and he asked, “What?” as though he couldn’t understand it.

Clearly, he hadn’t seen Glimmer smear his own blood on me.

Ew, I didn’t like that thought. I didn’t like the idea that I was channelling my magic through another creature’s blood.

I sent out more shields, blocking off the corridor. As fast as I could create the shields, though, Leonard was shattering them by sheer force.

“You’re a sneaky little dragon-sympathiser, King-y-boy. I always knew there was something wrong with you.”

Ditto.

I glanced at Glimmer, who was struggling to his feet, and asked, “How long will his power last?”

“Longer than the roof.”

There was nothing I could do but create shield after shield. Leonard grinned as he stepped nearer, moving forward with each shield he broke through. He thought he was winning.

I wasn’t trying to stop him reaching me, though. I was trying to stop him reaching mequickly.

In the gloom created by the broken ceiling, I didn’t realise at first that Glimmer was walking away from me.

As soon as I did, I called, “No!”

Leonard looked around.

“Where’s the dragon?” he snarled.

Glimmer was barely three feet from him and I slung a shield directly between them. Theridirebroke it because of course he did. That was what sealed his fate.

“I’m here,” said Glimmer, and I saw his arm lash out, a pale flash of skin, like a blade, and then Leonard’s hands shot to his throat, red cascaded down his body and he crumpled to the ground.

The first juddering explosion was a faint sound and then a shock-wave of energy rippling through the concrete. I was thrown to the side but managed to stay on my feet. Glimmer had stumbled against the wall and was leaning on it, taking slow breaths.

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